Providing assistance for editing markup document based on inferred grammar

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for assisting a user who is editing a markup document on a computer. The user is presented with the markup document on a display of the computer for editing and provided with grammatical assistance based on a grammar inferred from current content of the markup document. The grammar may be inferred and updated automatically after the markup document is loaded or edited. The assistance provided may be based on a combination of an inferred grammar and a real grammar. The markup document can be an extensible markup language (XML) document.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus, comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: 
 present a markup language document on a display coupled to the apparatus, for editing by a user, wherein the markup language document is a document comprising current content generated using at least one markup language; and 
 provide grammatical assistance to the user based on a markup language grammar inferred from the current content of the markup language document, wherein the markup language grammar comprises syntax rules of the at least one markup language used to generate the current content of the markup language document. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the markup language grammar comprises at least one of definition rules for creating new types of markup language document elements and attributes, and declaration rules for enabling elements and attributes with specific names and types to appear in the markup language document. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to infer the markup language grammar automatically from the current content and load the markup language grammar into the memory of the apparatus. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to dynamically update the markup language grammar based on real-time edits to the markup language document. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to update the markup language grammar only after a pre-defined time interval has elapsed since the markup language document was last edited. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the inferred markup language grammar is associated with a markup language grammar element appearing in the markup language document for which an associated real markup language grammar defined in a markup language grammar file is not available. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to provide assistance to the user by:
 providing assistance to the user for editing the markup language document based on a real markup language grammar defined in a markup language grammar file for portions of the markup language document having elements corresponding to information in the markup language grammar file, and 
 providing assistance to the user for editing the markup language document based on the inferred markup language grammar for portions of the markup language document having elements that do not correspond to information in the markup language grammar file. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the real markup language grammar file is an XML schema definition (XSD) file or a data type definition (DTD) file. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to provide grammatical assistance to the user based on a markup language grammar inferred from current content of the markup language document by:
 constructing a document object model associated with the current content of the markup language document, the document object model comprising a set of markup language grammar elements each associated with one or more portions of the current content of the markup language document; 
 for each markup language grammar element of the set, determining whether the each markup language grammar element is associated with an available real markup language grammar and, if not, inferring one or more markup language grammar rules associated with the each markup language grammar element; and 
 incorporating the inferred one or more markup language grammar rules into the inferred markup language grammar. 
 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the markup language document is an extensible markup language (XML) document. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein when the XML document is associated with a plurality of markup language grammars, each one of the plurality of markup language grammars is associated with a namespace and, for a particular markup language grammar element associated with a particular namespace, assistance related to the particular markup language grammar element is provided to the user based on the markup language grammar associated with the particular namespace. 
     
     
       12. A system for providing assistance to a user who is editing an extensible markup language (XML) document, comprising:
 a computing device running an editor for editing an XML document; and 
 a display device coupled to the computing device that displays the editor and the XML document, wherein the editor running on the computing device causes the computing device to: 
 present to the user the XML document for editing via the display device; 
 monitor a user input for an edit event; 
 in response to detecting an edit event, inferring a markup language grammar from current content of the XML document; and 
 provide assistance to the user based on the inferred markup language grammar, wherein the markup language grammar comprises XML syntax rules inferred from the current content of the XML document. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the markup language grammar comprises at least one of definition rules for creating new types of markup language document elements and attributes, and declaration rules for enabling elements and attributes with specific names and types to appear in the markup language document. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the editor causes the computing device to infer the markup language grammar automatically from the current content and load the markup language grammar into the memory of the apparatus. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the editor causes the computing device to dynamically update the markup language grammar based on real-time edits to the markup language document. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 15 , wherein the editor causes the computing device to update the markup language grammar only after a pre-defined time interval has elapsed since the markup language document was last edited. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the inferred markup language grammar is associated with a markup language grammar element appearing in the markup language document for which an associated real markup language grammar defined in a markup language grammar file is not available. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the editor causes the computing device to provide assistance to the user by:
 providing assistance to the user for editing the markup language document based on a real markup language grammar defined in a markup language grammar file for portions of the markup language document having elements corresponding to information in the markup language grammar file, and 
 providing assistance to the user for editing the markup language document based on the inferred markup language grammar for portions of the markup language document having elements that do not correspond to information in the markup language grammar file. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the markup language document is an extensible markup language (XML) document, and wherein when the XML document is associated with a plurality of markup language grammars, each one of the plurality of markup language grammars is associated with a namespace and, for a particular markup language grammar element associated with a particular namespace, assistance related to the particular markup language grammar element is provided to the user based on the markup language grammar associated with the particular namespace. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 18 , wherein the editor causes the computing device to provide grammatical assistance to the user based on a markup language grammar inferred from current content of the markup language document by:
 constructing a document object model associated with the current content of the markup language document, the document object model comprising a set of markup language grammar elements each associated with one or more portions of the current content of the markup language document; 
 for each markup language grammar element of the set, determining whether the each markup language grammar element is associated with an available real markup language grammar and, if not, inferring one or more markup language grammar rules associated with the each markup language grammar element; and 
 incorporating the inferred one or more markup language grammar rules into the inferred markup language grammar.